Plans unveiled for Stutz building apartments near downtown Indy

INDIANAPOLIS — One hundred years ago, the Stutz Factory on the northwest side of downtown was the production home to one of America’s fledgling automotive brands.

Now the Stutz hosts artists and diners and, maybe by 2028 pending City approval, residents in 275 planned apartment units.

SomeraRoad, which bought and has already invested $100 million in the historic factory five years ago, has announced plans to double its investment in building a five-story apartment building across the street at 10^th and

Capitol Avenue, connecting it with the factory site by a walkway, with public places and a rooftop pool overlooking the downtown skyline.

Rental costs will vary from $1,700 to $2,100 a month at a location close to the expanding IU and Purdue Indy campuses and the IU Medical Center being constructed just north of the site.

”The health industry with IU’s health campus, we have Elanco who’s going to be adding jobs to the area, and we’ve got a lot of the residential developments that are occurring downtown and the higher ed institutions as well,” said Metropolitan Development Director Megan Vukusich, reflecting on the employers and educators who will host workers and students wanting to live close to downtown offices and classrooms. ” It’s really the amenities that exist in the area that really are key to that residential development.”

Demolition has begun on the 500 Place building on the downtown canal to make way for new apartments at Indiana Avenue and West Michigan Street.

Developers are turning the Gold Building on Delaware Street into an apartment building while a residential tower is planned nearby on the east end of the City Market.

”What we saw was we had a lot of office uses downtown but maybe the market wasn’t demanding office at that time. So how do we make sure that we’re diversifying in what we are investing in and the uses that we do have in a downtown environment so that we are more resilient to market trends long term but along with that comes making sure we have proper housing and amenities for people living downtown,” said Vukusich. “A lot of the times there are high infrastructure costs or let’s say it’s a historic building or an existing office tower that is not easily adaptable to a residential use, because you have to add 200 kitchens now to this office tower.”

A recent survey by RentCafe found Indianapolis is the fifth fastest growing downtown residential market in the Midwest with nearly 2,600 new units coming online in the last five years.

Nearly 30,000 people live in downtown Indianapolis.